What to be Thankful for during a tough year

It’s easy to pass on the little pleasures in life when you have to carry so much on your shoulders, but it’s important to make time for the good in your life so the bad doesn’t control you. Did you sleep well last night? Was your commute to work faster than the day before? Did your kids finish all their food at dinner? It’s the little things that probably get ignored on a daily basis that can change your bad year into one you can be grateful for. So, what things should you look out for?

Your Health

Your health is one of the most important things to take care of. It’s important to take time to show your body the priority it deserves. It’s easy to push your health to the side when you’ve worked late into the night and grabbing a cheeseburger was easier than making a salad. However, self-care doesn’t have to be a healthy diet. Taking time for yourself can be meditation, a bubble bath, getting to bed early, drinking tea instead of coffee, or even developing an exercise routine.

Family & Friends

Family and friends are important, valuable and irreplaceable. As cliché as that sounds, it’s also true. Family is one of the most important things in life and friends are “the family you choose”. So when you’re having the worst day of your life being thankful that you can call your parents, siblings, children and friends can easily make your day a little better.

Your Home

A roof over your head is one of those big accomplishments in life to get you feeling grateful for all the other things in your life. Being able to call a place your home and being able to go somewhere when you’ve had a rough day can be the best thing to say thank you for.

A romantic partner

There’s nothing better than going home and seeing your loved one after an exhausting day. It’s the hug they give you when you so desperately need one, or the ears they lend you so you can vent about your day. It’s your time to let out the bad vibes and for your partner to help carry the burdens in life. Once all is released and all is spoken to exhaustion, then you can let go and move on with the rest of your days. The ones whom you share your heart with can also be someone who you can share your troubles with and help you keep putting one foot in front of another.

Work

Work can be one of those things that doesn’t even come to your mind when you’re listing off things you appreciate, but it doesn’t have to be. The truth is, work is probably where you spend the most time and it should have plenty to be thankful for. If you break it down, you can categorize your appreciation into 3 tiers: Most grateful, Semi Grateful, and least grateful.

Most Grateful: Your pay check. While you may not like your hourly rate, you still have an income. That is something you can be the most grateful for because in the end, at least you’re getting paid and not working for free.

Semi Grateful: Building your resume. Everyone does a job that doesn’t seem worth it, but something is better than nothing. At the very least, you gained a skill and added experience to your resume. Working in the food industry doesn’t have to mean McDonalds, you can gain the experience of cooking/ serving and bring those qualifications to a high end restaurant that will pay more. Another reason to build your resume is to let your future employer know you worked towards something better. Keep moving up on the ladder and you’ll soon get the job you want.

Least Grateful: Problems at work. This one may sound crazy, but it is something to look at and be thankful for. Your job probably exists because there is a need for it. You don’t just restock shelfs at a department store, you give the customers something to shop for– without items on a shelf, there is nothing to buy. It’s little things that you do that give your job security. So while you’re having a bad day because you have so much to do at work, just think, “at least I have something to do.”

The holidays are all about being thankful for what you have and appreciating all those around you, but those moments of gratitude can be hard if you’re not happy with how your year has been going. You could have experienced the worst year of your life and when the time comes to sit at the table and reflect on all the good that has happened to you, all you want to say is, “I just want this year to be over” because when it rains, it pours! Everyone has experienced a year where nothing seems to be going their way and during those years everyone can agree that they were glad the year was ending, but there is always something to be thankful for. At the very least, just be thankful for you.